Kyah Preston

4/17/2023

Feature #3

King Of The Week 

We have a special program here at Lewis Cass that most schools don’t have. That program is called Kings of the Week. Each week all of the Lewis Cass staff nominates a student that has shown Kindness, Integrity, nonjudgmental, grit, and acts of self-control throughout the week. This way the students will be recognized for being a light in the school. I think that this program is very special.

I asked Mr. Smith (the leader of King of the Week) why did Lewis Cass start the King of the Week program? He responded “ A large portion of my job is dealing with students when they make mistakes or are referred to the office.  Therefore, many of my interactions with students are not always positive.  had been thinking about ways to have positive interactions with students, and the KINGS of the Week program was born. We started this program to recognize students for what they are doing right instead of only addressing behaviors when they do not meet expectations. Also, we wanted to incorporate our KING’s characteristics weekly.”

Another thing that we do at Lewis Cass that most schools don’t have is The King of the Week which is a nominated staff member of the week. This staff member shows the same morals as the students show and get an award as well. I asked Mr. Smith why we started staff member king of the Month and he said “The KING for The Week program started this year as a way to recognize ALL of our Staffulty (staff/faculty) in the building. This program is not just for teachers. There are so many people who do so much daily which mostly goes unnoticed.  We can only give out one trophy a week, but each person who is nominated receives a certificate that details why they were nominated.”

This program truly is a full-school thing. I asked Mr.Smith approximately how many students were nominated and he responded “This past week, we had 21 students nominated and recognized.  Usually, we receive anywhere from 8-25 nominees weekly. This school year alone, we have received 373 nominations so far, and 271 individual students have been recognized.”

 I then asked Mr. Smith what the student gets when awarded King of the Week. Smith said  “The students get awarded for being a king of the week and he said “ The initial award includes a certificate with the reason they were nominated and by whom.  Additionally, students who are drivers are given the option of an off-campus lunch with a friend of the same sex after parental permission. Students who do not drive are given the choice of Oreos, Chips Ahoy, Cheez-its, Goldfish, Takis, Cookies,  Fruit Roll-up, Pringles, etc… Finally, each time a student is nominated, his/her name goes into a drawing for some bigger prizes at the end of the year.  These prizes include a 40″ smart TV and a variety of gift cards.”

The last thing I wanted to learn about King of the Week is the impact it has made on the school. So my final question to Mr. Smith was, do you think this program has made a big impact on the school? He responded by saying “ Ideally, I would like to say yes to this question.  I get to read every nomination that comes through, and I am encouraged by the things our students are doing.”